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Common Issues faced by Restaurants in India.

Let us understand why we need to concentrate on the common issues faced by any small & medium restaurants in India, first let us find out what are the common problems faced by restaurants.

I have gone through few websites and have spoken to few restaurant owners to find out few common concerns faced by restaurants.

Came up with few concerns restaurants face regularly, restaurants have many small issues that needs attention however based on the research and owners reference I have come up with 4 common issues faced by restaurant owners and how you could overcome the same.

Common Issues Faced by Restaurant Owners:

The Menu.

Customer Service.

Restaurant Management.

Marketing.

The Menu:

One of the most common problems restaurant owners face is the menu. A good menu is a balancing act. Do you have too many or too few menu items?

Keep your menu size in check. Instead of offering a five-page menu, consider offering a smaller number of dishes and doing them really well. People need to know what your restaurant is about – keep your menu aligned with your restaurant’s unique proposition.

Lacking focus, large menus take longer to order from.

When you have too many different dishes cooking at the same time and not enough of the same items in the same pans, you’ll spend more time producing orders. Each table takes longer to serve, and you’ll turn them over at a slower rate.

Concentrate on the layout of your menu. Is it easily readable? Here are some tips for your restaurant menu:

Group your most profitable items together.

Let your menu be a tour guide. This can be accomplished through photos and/or creative text.

Keep your menus clean – no grease and no food or water stains. Get rid of worn or torn menus.

Update your menu and prices at least once a year.

Build your menu around popular items.

Make sure your staff is thoroughly trained and has memorized the menu.

Don’t forget to put your menu on your website and make sure it is easily accessible from a mobile phone. Travelers using their mobile phones are more likely to visit your restaurant if they can see at a quick glance what you are offering.

Customer Service:

First impressions are important and always the best one too. Poor customer service is often a deal breaker for customers. Your food may be outstanding, your table settings exquisite and your ambiance delightful, but if your service is bad, customers will remember.

“The key to success is happy customers” who want to return again and again and spread the word to their friends and relatives. To ensure your success, “you and your entire restaurant must be dedicated to your customers” well-being.

As the digital arena continues to grow, online reviews are consistently important to your success.

Management:

The most important tool for running a successful restaurant – management. You need to know how to analyze your business to make sure it runs profitably. Many small restaurants don’t pay attention to the following items as they manage the day-to-day operation of their restaurant:

How many customers are you feeding each day? Break it down.

Keep track of ordered menu items. No one ordering a particular item on the menu? Maybe it’s time to take it off the menu.

What are your most profitable menu items? Keep a keen note on the most ordered item on the menu.

What does it cost to make each menu item? What’s the profit margin?

Do you have a budget for labor? Are you sticking to it?

How much do you spend on labor compared to your restaurant sales?

How much loss is involved in your inventory? Manage your inventory wisely.

Do you have sales goals? Are you meeting them?

Staff Management is problematic in India, most of the restaurant owners complain about this mostly. When you know the problem try finding a solution for it. We have many restaurant management software which are robust and affordable. Try one of the management software. This could solve your staff management issues.

Online Orders are increasing Day by Day:

Have you tied up with any online food delivery companies yet? While I was speaking with restaurant owners on the common issues faced by restaurants, I understood that online orders are slowly increasing. One of the restaurants Sandwitchwallas informed me that their online orders through swiggi and food-panda have increased lately. Many restaurants have seen a 25% increase in the last few months, especially after the Demonetization. End of the day what restaurants look for is sales does not matter how it happens.

Marketing: Market your Restaurant well.

Today, how many of you want to have good food and have scouted for it? it’s a fast life we lead, we tend to visit a movie or a restaurant or visit any store based on the reviews we receive, may be a friend had a good time at one of the restaurant he went to and spoke about it in front of you, you tend to at least check out the restaurant because of this. Reviews matter a lot. Do you have a system to capture all the reviews of your customers? Do you have a feedback collecting system to understand what your customers are feeling when they are at your restaurant?

Many owners fail to pay enough attention to marketing making this a common problem in the restaurant world. Following are a few areas to attend to now in order to avoid not marketing:

Make a marketing plan. Start small and work up to a six-month or yearlong plan.

Get a responsive website that looks great on desktop, tablet and mobile phone.

Engage in social media and digital marketing.

Start an email and mobile number database.

Create a customer loyalty program.

Be creative with your marketing. Whatever is your budget, there are inexpensive ways to market your restaurant.

These four major issues once taken care will allow you to increase your revenue at your restaurant. If you have come across any other common issue faced by restaurants do let me know so that i could include the same on the blog.